In silver halide color photographic materials, generally a yellow coupler, a magenta coupler, and a cyan coupler are used in combination as photographic couplers that will react with the oxidized product of an aromatic primary amine developing agent to form color-formed dyes.
For the color-formed dyes obtained from such couplers, the following properties are desired: for example, they are desired to be fine in spectral absorption characteristics and high in fastness, for example, to light, heat, and humidity. The "fine spectral absorption characteristics" desired for photographic materials means that each of the color-formed dyes respectively formed from couplers does not have undesired absorption in the wavelength region other than the desired main absorption. For example, in the case of yellow color formed dyes, since the main absorption section of the formed dyes are broad, there is undesired absorption on the long-wavelength side of the maximum absorption wavelength and color reproduction of yellow and green hues is unsatisfactory.
In color photographic materials used for recording and preserving images, conventionally, benzoylacetanilide yellow couplers or bivaloylacetaminlide yellow couplers have been used. However, the yellow dyes obtained from these couplers have a problem in view of color reproduction because the main absorption is broad, and therefore a technique for improving them has been desired. Further, since the color-formed dyes obtained from the above yellow couplers are poorer in fastness than the color-formed dyes obtained from magenta couplers and cyan couplers, the change in color balance during storage is conspicuous and therefore its improvement in color print materials that are particularly intended to be kept for a long period of time has been strongly desired.
Therefore, in order to improve light-fastness of such yellow color-formed dyes, sterically hindered phenol compounds described, for example, in JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 48535/1979 and 222853/1985; polyalkylpiperidine compounds described, for example, in JP-B ("JP-B" means examined Japanese patent publication) No. 20671/1982 and JP-A Nos. 116747/1984 and 11935/1984; and compounds described, for example, in JP-A Nos. 239149/1987, 240965/1987, 254149/1987, 262047/1987, and 300748/1990, are known. Certainly, light-fastness was improved by the use of a combination of a yellow coupler and these compounds. However, it was found that its improved effect is not on a satisfactory level and that, for example, the emulsion stability is deteriorated.
This deterioration of the emulsion stability causes a photographically serious problem. That is, (1), with time, couplers deposit from the oil droplets in which the couplers are dissolved, resulting in a coating problem or a decrease in the maximum color density, or (2), with time, the diameter of the oil droplets increases, resulting in a reduction called haze, which lowers the apparent maximum color density.
Thus, a technique satisfying all of the performances desired has not yet been attained.